Artificial Intelligence And Economic Crime

• Published date: 07 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law, Technology, Crime, New Technology
• Law Firm: TLT Solicitors
• Author: Richard Cross

In today's digital age, where technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about both awe-inspiring possibilities and unprecedented threats in relation to economic crime.

While AI can be a powerful tool in combating economic crime, it can also be exploited by criminals to perpetrate sophisticated and elusive offences.

AI, with its ability to analyse vast amounts of data and identify patterns, has revolutionised the way we approach economic crime prevention. Machine learning algorithms can sift through mountains of financial transactions, detecting anomalies and flagging suspicious activities that might otherwise go unnoticed.

In June this year, to great fanfare, Google Cloud launched its AI-driven anti-money laundering tool. This marks a big departure from the traditional AI economic crime tools, as rather than starting with human determined rules to tell the AI where to look, Google's tool does it all itself. This AI-first approach is proving successful at HSBC, which has reported that the Google tool has reduced alerts by 60% while increasing true hits by two to four times.

Such developments in AI will continue to drive down costs for financial institutions and allow the human experts to focus on the most serious cases. Ultimately, this should reduce economic crime and bolster the integrity of the financial system.

However, as AI evolves, so do the tactics employed by criminals. They are quick to adapt and exploit the very technology designed to thwart them. Cybercriminals are leveraging AI to develop sophisticated attacks, making it increasingly difficult for traditional security measures to keep up. AI-powered bots can mimic human behaviour, bypassing security protocols and infiltrating systems undetected. This has led to a surge in identity theft, phishing scams, and ransomware attacks, causing billions of dollars in losses annually.

One of the most concerning aspects of AI-driven economic crime is the potential for deepfakes. Deepfakes are manipulated videos or audios that convincingly depict someone...